Swarm of bees takes over car at Burlington Centre

Burlington Centre parking lot was buzzing with activity last week, as nearly 20,000 bees attached themselves to a shopper’s Toyota Corolla. 

The colony queen took off with approximately half of the population of the hive, leaving the remainder confused and with no idea where to go. 

“To collect these swarms, all I need is a brush and some bee equipment called a nuc box, which is basically a small beehive or starter colony,” Dave Stotesbury, the local beekeeper who safely removed the bees said. “I spent an hour gently brushing the bees off the car, in the vicinity of the nuc box, once they’re down there and smell it, it smells like home to them.”

Stotesbury added that he didn’t get any reports of anyone being stung by the bees at Burlington Centre. The owner of the car left the vehicle overnight, but came back to pick it up the next day, with nothing buzzing around. 

When the queen bee leaves the hive, it’s completely arbitrary where the remainder of the hive ends up, Stotesbury said. They start to scout for a new home and that can mean swarming a car, tree, or the ground. 

The bees are now in his possession. 

“Any time you pick up a swarm that’s not yours, it’s exciting but nerve wracking,” Stotesbury said. “You don’t know if there are diseases that are coming along with them, or pests. They’re in our quarantine area in our main yard, but once I’m able to inspect them in the next few weeks, if they’re looking healthy and strong and the colony grows, I will move them out into the yard and they can happily produce honey and pollinate.”

After getting the call from the mall, Stotesbury arrived only about half-an-hour later. 

“The customer came in, went to guest services to call for help, asking for security to come and to see if we could help her in any way, so that’s what we did,” Nicole Young, marketing manager for Burlington Centre said. 

The Burlington Centre has bee hives set up on the roof of the mall, with hopes of pollinating the surrounding area. 

Stotesbury is the keeper who set up the hives on the roof through his business Backed By Bees, but added the bees that latched onto the car were not from there to begin with, and it’s not clear where they came from. 

Bees swarming like this is not out of the ordinary, Stotesbury said, referencing a recent Arizona Diamondbacks game that had to be delayed following a swarm of bees taking over the netting behind home plate. 

“I do this all the time,” Stotesbury said.